U.S. Gulf: Barge prices took off last week. Sources said granular prompt barges began the week as low as $418-$422/st FOB and finished in the $460s/st FOB.
While some cited substantive reasons for the jump, others said it might just be a tad trader hype. Still, Agrium did announce early in the week that it would be taking its Carseland, Alberta, urea plant down for up to eight weeks for repairs. As a result, sources said inquiries from the Pacific Northwest starting pouring in.
Sources also noted that this was about the same time as others were looking to buy, saying that if good weather continues in major crop areas, farmers could get back in their fields and get some work done. Sources said this might particularly be the case in the Northern Plains, where many are expecting a quick run if good weather continues.
Sources differed, however, on whether much product was going out of warehouses now, though warehouse prices were quick to respond to those at NOLA. Regardless, everyone is expecting a big corn crop this year, and the industry is on the verge of March. After all, how much longer can buyers wait?
Adding to the intensity were unconfirmed reports of other plant problems, and that one player may have been minus one vessel for NOLA in the near term. However, others remained confident that by late April plentiful imports would be available.
For now, though, prompt into mid-April appeared to be in big demand, with those price ideas all going up. By late Thursday, sources said it was hard to get a quote on prompt product.
Another source added that big players were buying up product like they needed it.
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular urea market in the Eastern Cornbelt had reportedly firmed to $465-$475/st FOB regional terminals as the week advanced, with the low reported out of river locations in Illinois and Ohio. There were reports as well that some suppliers had pulled their terminal price for urea last week to decide, as one source put it, if the rapid upswing in NOLA values “is real or not.”
Western Cornbelt: While sources said spot urea tons could be had at the $460/st FOB mark early in the week, granular urea pricing out of most Western Cornbelt terminals had firmed to $470-$475/st FOB by midweek. Sources said still higher numbers might be forthcoming in the near term, depending on what the NOLA barge market does. Some suppliers reported being “hesitant to quote any urea right now,” noting that the rapid swings in pricing had left them “uncertain what to do.”
Southern Plains: Depending on field conditions, sources reported some movement for wheat topdressing and preparation for corn planting in the region. Dealers talked of steady movement of urea in late February, and prices were ratcheting up quickly.
Urea was quoted in a broad range in the Southern Plains region last week, reflecting a rapid run-up in prices in late February. Early in the week, sources said urea tons were still available for as low as $450/st FOB Inola, Okla. By midweek, the range was quoted in the $460-$475/st FOB range, and postings were still higher. Koch on Feb. 23 reposted granular urea at $490/st FOB Inola and Enid, Okla., which was up from Feb. 15 postings at the $465/st level FOB Enid.
South Central: The ever-volatile urea market was on the upswing in late February. Out of regional terminals, the granular urea market was pegged in the $455-$465/st FOB range at midweek, up some $25-$30/st from last report, although some suppliers reportedly pulled their terminal prices when the NOLA market began its swift rise.
Southeast: Fertilizer sources in the Southeast reported firming urea prices last week, fueled by the spike in NOLA barge values